Former main opposition cochairman Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s approval ratings appear to be rising despite stepping back from the center of power.

According to a survey conducted by Realmeter, Ahn’s rating came in at 8.5 percent on Oct. 15, up more than 2 percentage points from the second week of the month.

Although small, the sudden jump coincided with his announcement that he will no longer be involved in running the party. While taking leading roles in political parties has long been considered essential to expand political influence, such steps have had the opposite effect on Ahn.

Ahn, who forfeited his presidential campaign in favor of the NPAD’s Rep. Moon Jae-in in 2012, had been one of the most prominent figures in the opposition bloc despite his short political career. 

However, his ratings began to drop after he took the helm of the main opposition party alongside Rep. Kim Han-gil. Soon after taking the post, Ahn backtracked on abolishing party-led candidate nominations in local elections, which dealt a severe blow to his slogan of “new politics.” After the string of election defeats his party suffered, he stepped down as the party leader on July 31.

Since then, Ahn has remained largely out of the public eye and declined to take a seat on the party’s emergency committee.

Now, however, Ahn may be planning to pick up the pace. According to reports citing an unnamed associate of Ahn, the former presidential candidate will launch a “two-track plan” after the parliamentary audit, ending his quiet spell.

“(Ahn) is planning a two-track action of developing policies, and making visits (regarding) the economy and the common people,” a local daily quoted an unnamed associate of Ahn.

According to the report, Ahn’s plans will be put into action early next month.
By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)